James Herbert Wilkerson

James Herbert Wilkerson (11 December 1869-30 September 1948) was Judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 18 July 1922 to 31 December 1940 (succeeding Kenesaw Mountain Landis) and Senior Judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 31 December 1940 to 30 September 1948.

Biography
James Herbert Wilkerson was born in Savannah, Missouri in 1869, and he practiced law in Chicago from 1893 to 1922. He served in the State House in 1902, as county attorney of Cook County from 1903 to 1904, special assistant to the US Attorney General from 1906 to 1911, US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1911 to 1914, Chairman of the Illinois Public Utilities Commission from 1919 to 1921, Judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1922 to 1940, and Senior Judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1940 to 1948. In 1930, he served as the judge presiding over the trial of Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone for federal income tax evasion, and, while he was initially not inclined to switch the corrupt jury for a clean one, Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness lied and told him that Wilkerson had been one of the politicians that Capone had recorded sending bribes to. Wilkerson, not wishing to have his reputation soiled, ultimately switched the juries, convincing Capone's lawyer to cut his losses by withdrawing Capone's "not guilty" plea and submitting a "guilty" plea; Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Wilkerson died in office in 1948.